Superman

It's a bird! It's a plane! No... It's Superman! This line has been very popular for ages. The Man of Steel is probably the most iconic American superhero. Many people believe that he paved the way for all the other superheroes.

Jerry Siegel (writer) and Joe Shuster (artist) are the great minds that came up with this godlike fictional character. However, he was not a superhero to start with. The two initially came up with the idea of having a bald telepathic villain who wants to rule the world. They entitled that story "The Reign of the Super-Man".

Fortunately, Siegel decided to change the character from a villain to a superhero who disguises himself as a normal human being. Inspired by Hercules and Samson, the creators envisioned a character that fights for social justice. They also decided to give him a costume. If you have ever wondered why most superheroes wear their underwear over their tights, let's just say that it's a trend that the greatest superhero started.

When designing his costume, Superman's creators decided to give him the ever iconic "S" on his chest and a shorts over tights outfit that was an influence of the traditional circus strong man outfit-shorts over a suit with contrasting colors.
Superman made his first appearance in Action Comics #1 which was published on April 1938. Despite many retellings of the story, the original story of Superman has been maintained in all versions. He is from the planet Krypton. His real name is Kal-El and his scientist father Jor-El sent him to Earth as an infant for his survival when their planet was about to explode. He was found and raised by Martha and Jonathan Kent who named him Clark Kent and soon knew about his special abilities.

Due to his good upbringing he lived by a certain moral code which was taught by his parents. Thus, despite his godlike powers, he has sworn never to take human life. However, things were not always like that. Superman was an aggressive and rough superhero when he was created by Siegel and Shuster. Writer Whitney Ellsworth is the one responsible for giving Superman a moral code that made him the gentleman and gentle-superhero he is nowadays.

Through the years, Superman's abilities have developed. From being able to jump long distances originally, he is now able to fly. His other abilities include super strength, invulnerability to non-magic-based attacks, x-ray vision, heat vision, ability to fly, ability to blow freezing cold wind, and so on.

Of course, Superman cannot go without any weakness. Thus, writers came up with the Kryptonite which is a mineral from Krypton. It is usually shown as a bright green rock but there are other colors such as red, black, blue, white, and gold, each with unique effects. Prolonged exposure to Kryptonite can be fatal to Superman but lead containers can protect him from it. By the way, he cannot see through lead.
Clark Kent works at the Daily Planet in Metropolis and is often portrayed to be perennially in love with Lois Lane. However, he has a childhood sweetheart named Lana Lang and he also had a college girlfriend named Lori Lemaris who is a mermaid. Yes, he almost got married to a mermaid. On the other hand, his popular enemies include Lex Luthor, Doomsday, Brainiac, Darkseid, and General Zod.
Due to the popularity of the character, many Superman games have been made in the past years, and there will definitely be more Superman games in the future. Some of the popular Superman games that fans enjoy to play nowadays include Superman: Shadow of Apokolips and Superman Returns: The Videogame.